Between Languages and Cultural Identity

Yoon: Although I was already about 15 - 16 years old when I moved to the States, I think that it was those years that shaped me into who I am today. There, I discovered the subjects that I was interested in, the artists that I admire, as well as the books and films that I love. I really became myself in the States. As for you, did you feel like you became a different person when you moved to Germany?

Tawada: Of course. However, I was 22 years old when I left for Germany, and so the literature that I loved―writings by Franz Kafka and so on, were something which I had already discovered long before. While there was not much of a shift in my identity, my relationship with literature and languages changed. Prior to Germany, my main language was Japanese. Culturally and linguistically, the Japanese are not very expressive, and they tend to speak in a roundabout way. I was arrested in the Japanese language―it was like a cage. I love the Japanese language, but if you only have one language to work with, then you have no freedom. You have no chance to compare it with something else, and your ways of thinking become contained in that cage. It was only when I moved to Germany that I learnt that you can have a relationship with a language without being arrested in it.

Yoon: Do you think it is because of the cultural differences or just the nature of the language itself?

Tawada: Just the language. For instance, with German, you can express something in a clear and concise way. That is what I like about the German language. It is influenced, perhaps, also by the language of national science. They do not care about the complicated social relationship. In Germany, if you want to say something, you can freely do so. In Japanese, you must say so many things before getting to the point.

Yoon: Yes. It is like you cannot say it directly―it has to be implied in a roundabout way.

Tawada: Exactly. You cannot just say, 'it is time to finish'. Instead, you would say san-ji desu ne or san-ji da wa^*2 . The subject is always about something beyond what you are saying. In this case, we are referring to, 'oh, it is 3 o'clock, should this talk not be over by now?'.

^*2 3時ですね (san-ji desu ne) or 3時だわ (san-ji da wa) can be translated as: It is 3 o'clock, isn't it? Therefore, in this context, Tawada is referring to the Japanese nature of implying that the time has come for the talk to finish, rather than merely stating the time.

Freedom Within The Cages

Thitirat Thipsamritkul (hereinafter Thipsamritkul): In another lecture, you mentioned that each language has its own world and that in some sense we are controlled by the language that we use.

Tawada: Yes. I think language is like a form of social control. It influences the way you think, and with certain languages, it is not easy to free yourself from that control. Political influence and censorship also go into the language. While there is no censorship from the state and the government, with some languages, you are unable to freely express certain things.

Yoon: So it goes back to the concept of languages being a cage.

Tawada: Yes. There are also things that cannot be expressed in German. For instance, in German, you cannot talk about death very openly, while with Japanese, it is easier to use wordplay in your everyday life in comparison to German. There are different restrictions. Maybe I wanted to have two cages. Total freedom does not exist. But if you have two cages you can move between the two―there is that freedom.

Choosing the right language to tell the story

Yoon: So how do you decide on the language that you use to write with?

Tawada: When I want to tell a story and describe things in a very precise way, I would use Japanese. When I want to write stories that are short and concrete yet abstract at the same time, I would choose German. Interestingly, the German language can turn a simple story into something very philosophical with abstract meanings. With Kafka, for example, there is always an abstract meaning in what he wrote.

Thipsamritkul: So the language you use to write is not decided by the character's nationality and the country in which your story is set in?

Tawada: Not at all. I have written books in Japanese where the protagonist is German and also vice versa.

Yoon: When your works were first published, did you know from the beginning that you would write in both languages?

Tawada: It was not a decision of mine, it just came to me naturally. With Where Europe Begins, for instance, it felt natural to be writing in German. Did you not want to write something in English while you were in New York? Not because you are comfortable with the language, but because the experience you went through was so American that it had to be described in English.

Yoon: Yes, I did. But when I did write in English while I was there, it was not with a feeling that I would become a writer. I just had to express something that I was thinking at the time. I never really imagined becoming a writer, especially in English, let alone in Thai. So that is why I was wondering whether it was from a deliberate decision or ambition that you would become a writer in both languages.

Tawada: For me, languages are like what materials are to an artist. Some artist prefers working with wood while another with paper. They choose a material that they want to work with. It is the same as choosing a language for a particular piece of work.

Yoon: What would you say is the thing that keeps you in Germany? I mean, you could also be living in Japan while writing in German.

Tawada: One reason is that the authors that I love―Kafka, Kleist and Schnitzler, all wrote in German. So the language is, for me, the base for my writing and thinking. Another reason is perhaps that Germany is not too local, not too small. English is so international that you do not have a very intimate, private relationship to it. But German is special. It is open and international, yet not everyone can use it. Likewise, Japanese is also very special to me―the two are like my private sanctuary.

Yoon: After having lived in Germany for some time, do you still feel like a foreigner there? How are you perceived by the German people?

Tawada: Yes and no. I feel very at home in Berlin. However, as a Japanese living in Germany, it is inevitable that people would ask you about tea ceremonies or kimonos or sushi. If I was in Japan, nobody would ask me about those things. Because I am always asked about these things, I want to be able to answer them. Hence, I studied more about Japanese culture to answer these questions. It is like you actually become more Japanese when you are abroad.